3Ware 9650SE-2LP-SGL, Half-Length, Low Profile, Internal SATA II Hardware RAID Controller Cardm, PCI Express x1, 2 port w/ 3Gb/sec, RAID 0, 1, JBOD and Single Disk- Single

Pros: This is equipment clearly intended for professional use. There are no wizards or anything. Drivers are very mature, you can tell that whatever is happening behind the scenes for this 2-port card is definitely based on its bigger, badder sibling's code. That's reassuring.

I'm running this in Windows 7 x64 without issues (yet).

Cons: Not for someone with weak technical knowledge. If you are looking to plug this in and then magically create your first ever RAID 6 array without reading any documentation, you will be mistaken.

Also, The 3DM2 service needed to be replaced with a patched one from their site (requires stopping the service from Administrative Tools > Services). This was very easy to find in LSI's knowledgebase.

Not a big deal, but this unit does not support BBU. I'd say you can safely enable Write Cache if you have a decent UPS.

Other Thoughts: If this is your first RAID array, I don't recommend going RAID 0. Please don't do that to yourself. I accidentally unplugged a hard drive cable when closing the case, and had to rebuild my RAID 1 array -- no big deal. If it had been RAID 0, it would have been sad.

Pros: I purchased this card because I've had success with previous models of 3ware cards. It works with windows 7 x64 and x32.

Cons: This card DOES NOT support a battery backup option, even though Newegg says it does.

Other Thoughts: I've contacted Newegg support to notify them I spoke with a 3ware technician, and he stated that the card does not support a battery backup card. Hopefully they'll remove the incorrect information.

This card is a very good card though if you are looking for something better than a soft raid. I've had no problems with it.

Pros: can't think of one

Cons: NO window7. for $190 you would think this would work with window7 ,

Other Thoughts: if you are not using windows7 , it might work out fine for you

Pros: A very nice card so far. I attached a pair of WD6400AAKS blue drives to it and get throughput of about 175MB, which is good enough for me to edit AVCHD video using Adobe Premiere CS4. Set up was simple, and Windows 7 Pro found the proper driver online.

Cons: None, so far.

Other Thoughts: I've used a number of software RAID cards in the past, but this is my first true hardware RAID controller and can't complain.

Pros: *PCI-E x1
*SATA II
*Low Profile bracket included
*2 independent SATA connectors--no multi-lane cable required
*Works out of box in Ubuntu 9.04 and later (have not tried with earlier versions, but it may work with them as well). Likely will also work with Redhat, SuSE or whichever modern linux distro you choose.
*3DM2 software can be configured to email disk alerts, which is really handy for remote or headless setups. Email notification is not part of the linux management package, but it can easliy be setup using mailx (I have mine setup to email daily at midnight using 'sudo sudo tw_cli /c0 show | sudo mailx -s "RAID Status" <email address>)
*Extremely easy to use
*3ware support is very friendly and knowledgeable, and speak english natively.

Cons: BBU is not included. This is literally the only con I can think of.

Other Thoughts: Make sure to use enterprise class RAID drives. I have several of these controllers, as well as a few 4 port and a 16 port 3ware card. All of them have either Seagate ES.2 or Western Digital RE3/RE4 drives attached. After several months of use, there have been absolutely no problems.

Pros: works great in WinXPx32/WinVistax64. Driver support is up to date. Deditated CPU+RAM. Support for all tyrpes of OSes. PCI-Express.

Cons: pricey for a dual SATA Controller.

Other Thoughts: All I wanted was a fast, smart PCI Express card. Got it goin' on her with this...

Pros: Fantastic speed even in RAID 1 as compared to standalone drive. Easy to use bios and raid configuration. If you are looking for a RAID 0/1 on a PCIE X1 slot then this is your card. I compared this against many of the other cards before purchasing.

Cons: none - great card.

Other Thoughts: I only had a pcie X1 slot available on my motherboard and I amusing this to run a RAID 1 for my user files. Installation was easy. I downloaded the most recent 9.5.3 codec set iso direct from 3ware and burned it to CD. It was easy to update both the drivers and card firmware. I also receive very good phone support from 3ware when I called to inquire about the card prior to purchase.